Who Should I Start? Brandon Allen or Sam Darnold

Monday, March 11, 5:08 PM

The San Francisco 49ers re-signed quarterback Brandon Allen to an undisclosed deal on Monday, according to a source. Allen was an excellent presence in the team's quarterback room last year and could become the team's direct backup to Brock Purdy in 2024 if Sam Darnold leaves in free agency, which is expected. The 31-year-old served as San Francisco's emergency third signal-caller last year and didn't get into any games. In his four previous seasons with the Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals, Allen has appeared in 15 games (nine starts) and has completed only 56.7 percent of his pass attempts for 1,611 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Wednesday, May 8, 11:20 PM

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold could be named the team's Week 1 starter over first-round pick J.J. McCarthy. As Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com writes, "It's only a matter of time before McCarthy becomes the Vikings' starting quarterback [...] but it is not likely to happen as quickly as some fans might hope, and if anything, the Vikings are poised to err on the side of methodical caution." Such a scenario could see Minnesota let Darnold, whom they signed this past offseason when Kirk Cousins left for Atlanta, start a few games before transitioning to McCarthy. Darnold has struggled to support major fantasy production from his playmakers at previous stops, including the Jets and Panthers, so fantasy managers might want to temper expectations with players like Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, and T.J. Hockenson to start the year. Darnold himself falls to the low-end QB3 tier in fantasy football drafts.